Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have seen their club schedules disrupted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, forcing the AFC to make significant adjustments. Al Nassr, Al Hilal and all clubs still competing in the AFC Champions League Elite, Two and Challenge League will now contest the knockout stages in single-leg ties.
Most of the AFC knockout matches had been scheduled as two-legged affairs in early March. Ronaldo’s Al Nassr were set to face Al Wasl on March 4 and March 11 in the Champions League Two quarterfinals, while Benzema’s Al Hilal were due to meet Al Sadd in the Champions League Elite Round of 16 on March 3 and March 10.
The security situation in the West Region forced the Asian Football Confederation to postpone all affected matches until further notice, with ties involving East Region clubs already settled. In a statement released on Tuesday, March 24, the governing body confirmed that, in order to manage the revised schedule, all remaining club competitions “will now be decided in single-leg ties at centralized venues.“
The measures, however, will not be applied uniformly across all three competitions. In the AFC Champions League Elite, Al Hilal and the remaining clubs will play their Round of 16 matches on April 13 and 14 at King Abdullah Sports City and Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, one week before the Finals, which are scheduled to run from April 16 to 25.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Al Hilal FC celebrates scoring in the AFC Champions League Elite.
For the AFC Champions League Two and AFC Challenge League, both in their 2025-26 editions, the timeline will differ. Currently at the quarterfinal stage, both that round and the semifinals will be decided in single-leg matches on April 19 and 22, though the centralized venues have yet to be confirmed.
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A change of venues that could affect both Ronaldo and Benzema
Having topped their respective groups in the first phase, both Al Hilal and Al Nassr had earned the right to host the second legs of their knockout ties at home. The shift in both format and venue could prove costly for both clubs, whose home records in the 2025-26 season had been close to flawless.
In Al Hilal’s case, the club has played 17 home matches at Kingdom Arena across the Saudi Pro League and the AFC Champions League Elite this season. Benzema‘s side has gone unbeaten at home, winning 14 of those games and drawing the other three.
A similar story applies to Ronaldo’s Al Nassr. The club has played 16 matches at Al Awwal Park between the Saudi Pro League and the Champions League Two, posting a near-perfect record of 15 wins and just one defeat, a 2-1 home loss to Al Qasidiya on January 8 in league play.
In Ronaldo’s case, if the centralized venues are also based in Saudi Arabia, it could work in Al Nassr’s favor, as head coach Jorge Jesus has noted that the Portuguese star tends to perform at a higher level on home soil. That said, being denied the chance to close out their respective series in front of their own fans still represents a meaningful disadvantage for both Al Nassr and Al Hilal.
